Freddie's Escape
by Nature9000
Summary: Living with demons is never easy, but to feel imprisoned and to lose all hope is hardest. What escape of an abusive relationship is there when all prior attempts fail and those that should be there stop expecting the victim to escape? For Freddie, he is left with one last chance to get away, or accept that he may never have a happy, safe life again.
1. Chapter 1

Freddie's Escape

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A/N: FIRST AND FOREMOST! Everything you see below was on my other account that I lost access to "King Nate". This oneshot originally titled "Things you don't see, Sam" was one of the last Sam/Freddie things (and at risk of being one of the last things ever) for me to write. It was written in July 2009 before I found out my ex and her mom had BPD, before the abuse got worse. This was written in response to something that occurred then. I am moving the original oneshot to this account, but I am leaving everything as is. I am not touching , I…It makes me feel very sick looking back because it's that real to me. So much so that everything is exactly how my ex and her mom were. I need to put closure on this story, that is why the second part of this will be his exit. Bear with me…..please and thank you. Everything below this note is as it was in 2009.

"Things you don't see, Sam"

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N: The reason I do this in story mode is because it is easier to speak through story means for this, so I figure that's exactly what I'll do.

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-TO SAM FROM FREDDIE-

Freddie sat at his girlfriend's home, it was yet another date that seemed to go awry, but that wasn't surprising for him anymore. He loved Sam with all his heart, he loved her family too and had spent countless hours with them. So then, what was the problem? He sighed as he flipped on the television, it was nearly midnight. He rolled his eyes and groaned softly as Sam ran through the living room. Her face was anguished and despaired, but also she was acting like she was on a job. He smirked to himself and stared at the television in silence as Sam pulled out a bottle of pills and ran back to the bedroom, Same old routine. "Shit," Freddie muttered as he flipped to the next channel. He stared at the ring on his finger and smiled to himself, he and Sam were going to get married after dating for quite some time, but there were still things he had to wonder about.

"Freddie!" Sam called out, her head peeking into the room. Freddie's eyebrows rose in interest as he turned to gaze at his beautiful girlfriend, perhaps she was finally done with all she had to do and _now_ he could _finally_ spend some time with her.

"What is it, Sam?" He studied her face and frowned, it didn't seem like she was done doing everything she needed to do.

"Can you toss me the Tylenol sitting on that table next to you?" Freddie's eyes drifted over to the table and graced over the medicine. He shrugged and quickly swept it up in his hands, then tossed it over to Sam, who quickly grabbed it and ran off once more.

_"This isn't surprising_." Freddie laid back against the couch and closed his eyes, he was growing severely tired. He moaned as he heard Sam shuffling around in another kitchen like a maid trying to get everything. He had tried to talk to her several times about all this, as had some of her friends, but she never wanted to listen, to hear the truth. _"Enough is enough, I am going to have to talk to her, whether she wants to hear this or not. This can _not_ keep happening."_ Freddie's eyes shot open as he felt a sharp bump at his feet. He quickly sat up and saw Sam sitting at the edge of his feet, she looked extremely tired, once again not surprising to him. "All done, or is there some more stuff you have to do?"

"I'm all finished." Not a single smile, that was happening more often now than before, but again it wasn't surprising. Sam's friends lived with her, they all knew what was going on with everything, even Freddie did, but Sam never saw any of it. Whether she knew it and just remained in denial or whether she was blind and just didn't see any of it, no one really could tell. Sam looked over at Freddie and frowned, he didn't seem happy, despite the fact that he was smiling at her. "What's wrong?" Freddie sighed and closed his eyes, she really asked that too much. Sure she worried, but there was no reason to worry.

"No, quit asking that." Sam raised her eyebrow as Freddie slowly stood up and took her wrist, he could hear some movement in another room, so he needed to get Sam alone. He took Sam outside and sat her down. "We have to talk about some things, namely, your mother." He could count down, three, two, one.

"Not now, please." Not a surprise, she never wanted to hear, but she had to. If he didn't talk about it, if she would never listen, it would never get fixed, he'd blow one day, and the relationship would be _screwed_.

"No, we're doing this now." Sam frowned and slowly nodded her head, she knew Freddie was probably getting tired of trying to talk about things that were important, but she just didn't really want there to be so much drama and trouble. "I know you don't want to talk about this, but we have to. It's important." He knew she'd probably say to be nice and all that, and he was always doing that, but now it just _needed_ to come out. There was no question about that.

"Freddie…"

"I'm going to start talking. Just listen, please." Sam shrugged her shoulders as Freddie sat down and stared into her eyes. "First of all, that woman continuously runs you around like a damn _maidservant_."

"But-"

"No buts." Sam shifted her eyes to the side and frowned, she always thought her mom couldn't take care of herself. It was like her obligation to take care of her seemingly dependant mother. "You can't see it, you can't see any of it, so I'm going to kindly inform you of what your friends seem to inform you of. We all see it, every last one of us. Everything she does to you, yet _you_ refuse to _stop_ it all."

"She needs me."

"She doesn't _need_ you, she just wants to spend every goddamn minute of every hour of every day with you." Sam frowned as Freddie leaned back in his seat, he was speaking from experience of what her mother had told him once. She told him she used to spend about twenty four seven with Sam and she would have loved for it to return that way. Sam didn't have a life, she needed a life, but she would never _have_ a life if things didn't change and _she_ had to be the one to stand up and change it. Her mom wouldn't change it, her friends wouldn't change it, no one would help her, she had to do it all because it was _her life_. "Don't you realize it's now one in the morning?"

"Mom needed her medication."

"She could get it herself!" It frustrated him, he watched her mother plenty of times when Sam wasn't around, enough to know that the woman could take care of herself just fine. "She's got you thinking she can't do a damn thing without you, she's got you running around like a bloody maid. I've seen how she can walk, she can move, she can do things on her own…she's _not_ an invalid you know." Sam looked down and moved the corner of her lip back, she just felt like she had to take care of her mom. "What are you, her daughter or her parent? Better yet, are you her servant?" She responded with a soft and quiet tone of voice.

"I'm not her servant…"

"You are?"

"I'm not…" Freddie wasn't easily convinced and Sam didn't sound very convincing. He crossed his arms as she lifted her head and gazed into his serious eyes. "I knew you weren't feeling good…"

"This isn't about me Sam, this is about _you_. Don't worry how I'm feeling, okay? Now, you are or you're not your mom's servant."

"I'm not her servant, Freddie. I'm her _daughter_."

"Then _act_ like it! Act like the independent minded woman that I know you are. Act like the woman who is in control of her life, her expenses, her _everything_, don't act like a damn slave for a woman who can clearly do things on her own. I've seen it with my own eyes, your friends have seen it as well! I come over to visit you and I see you running around whenever you're here, you're running around while your mother sits down and orders you to do everything. 'Sam get this, Sam get that, Sam I don't like this.' I mean damn it, if I didn't know you and love you and know that you were her daughter, I'd think you were a hired maid."

"Wha…" Sam's jaw fell slightly as Freddie slowly shook his head, he didn't know if he was getting through to her or not, but he needed to. He _had_ to, she was the woman he loved, the woman he was destined to marry and spend the rest of his life with.

"Sam, you know I love you. You've made me so happy and I just want you to be happy, but from what I've seen, you're almost never happy. I know you don't like drama, I know you don't like making decisions, and I'm not asking you to, but I am asking you to at least open your eyes."

"But Freddie…"

"No words, just listen to me." He got about halfway through what he needed to talk to her about, the rest was about how the woman treated him when she wasn't around. "You know when you're not around, your mom is fine and whatever. You know, when I was at my job, I was told by your friends later on that your mom had been so peaceful and just resting and whatnot. Then when we come home, I try to tell you about my raise and you don't even _smile!_" Sam looked down and sighed, she was happy for him, but her mom hadn't been feeling well. At least that was what she thought. "Whenever I was talking even, your mother was coughing and acting all bothered, making you focus on her. That's all she ever does whenever I'm in your presence, she just wants your attention."

"She was sick today!"

"Maybe she was, your friends say she fakes a hell of a lot of things to the point they don't even know when she's faking or telling the truth. That's not it though, she constantly does things to get your attention, she doesn't want you to have any attention." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, slowly leaning back in his chair. Sam's lips went down as she waited for Freddie's next words. "I'm competing with your mother for _your_ attention. She did exactly that tonight, just like she does every night. You just can't see it because it's been gradual…"

"What has?"

"She has been going to bed earlier before, now she's waiting up so you'll have time with her and I'll be going out of the room or something to let you and her 'spend time together' for _her sake_. Then midnight or later, when we're both_ tired as hell_, she'll go to bed and you won't even realize what she's doing there…she's making you stay with her and hoping that I'll fall asleep or something so that I don't get any time with you."

"That's paranoia…"

"No, it isn't Sam. I'm telling you exactly how it is." Sam frowned as Freddie slowly stood up, she watched him walk to the post on the porch and tilted her head as he turned to her. "Your mom wants your undivided attention, every bit of it. That's why she runs you around like a damn maid, makes you constantly think something's wrong with her, makes you worry and wonder, makes you tired and irritable, which makes me tired and irritable…she deceives you in ways you can't see, but I can see it and so can your friends…she constantly stays up as late as possible, ignoring however tired she is, just so hopefully you'll get tired and fall asleep, leaving me out here waiting on you, she nearly succeeded once. She has actually convinced me to stay out of your, no wait, _her_ way in the morning so that you'll have that time, then managed to keep me from possibly taking you out on a date or picking you up from work or taking you there so that she'll get that time with you. She's got you so damn hung up over her that even when you two aren't together, you're worrying about her and getting back to her. She calls us when we're on a date, knowing what time we're coming home, but just wanting to know if you're coming back. She can do her own damn stuff when you're away, I see it while waiting on you, but when you're here she can't seem to even get up off her rear end! I try to be patient, kind, nice, everything you're saying me to be. I'm nice to your mother, but I don't even have to say anything, she just looks at me and she's in a bad mood. I'm getting tired, I'm getting impatient, I'm getting mad as well, but I'm truly happy as ever if I get to spend _any_ time with you anymore. She gets to spend more time with you than I do and yet she still complains about how I spend more time with you than she does, _come on already._ I will _never_ make you choose between either of us, I think I've said that enough, but I _will_ say this. When you and I are married, I would actually rather her not live with us…I mean she tries to horde all the attention now without me saying anything, marriage doesn't solve problems and it won't stop her wanting all the attention from you like some child who wants their mother, and believe me…you'll have enough on your hands dealing with a family and a job."

"True…"

"I would prefer not to have to worry about never getting but thirty minutes to an hour to spend alone with my wife and having her spend every other bit at work and with my mother in law. If that happens, then your mother will probably succeed at screwing up our relationship."

"Freddie…"

"I mean it…" Freddie looked at his watch and his brows furrowed, it was now a quarter till two and both of them were obviously tired. He could tell Sam was tired, so she would most likely fall asleep and probably end up late for work if she stayed up any later. He sighed softly and slowly shook his head. "We're both tired, so I'm going home to sleep and let you get your rest.

"I love you Freddie."

"I love you too." Freddie smiled and kissed Sam on the lips. "You know she's even got me doing stuff she can do herself. I mean how hard is it for someone to get off their butt to fill up a cup of water?" Sam chuckled nervously as Freddie turned around and started walking to his car, he stopped and turned around. "I love you, goodnight." Sam waved as Freddie moved into the car. He looked out the car window and stared into the house, Sam walked in and saw her mom sitting on the couch waiting for her, unsurprisingly the woman did not really go to bed. He saw Sam's mom talking to her and getting her to retrieve something for her. Sighing, Freddie started the car and drove off, he would be back tomorrow for another routine and tiresome day. His love for Sam kept him dealing with it, so there was never any worry of that.

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A Oneshot that I wrote once while my girlfriend was running around. What can I say? This is true, hah. True to the characters, possibly. Hope you enjoyed it, drop a review! Yeah, I need to have this talk with my girlfriend, actually...

(Author note from 2013-my naivity when I wrote the above is hard for me to swallow. I did actually try to have that talk with her, but…yeah it never went over well. Without further ado, I will put the second part of this in)


	2. Numbness

Freddie's Escape

A/N: So much so that everything is exactly how my ex and her mom were. I need to put closure on this story, that is why the second part of this will be his exit. Bear with me…..please and thank you.

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N: Yes there is a year and a half gap, don't ask me to write what happened in between. I will not be able to do that for you-and believe me-I have tried.

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-EMPTINESS AND NUMBNESS-

October of 2010, Freddie sat on the edge of his and Sam's bed, rubbing his hands through his thin hair. Mrs. Puckett's bed was on the other side of the tiny bedroom, with only a small walk space between the stacked mattresses. They were living now in a smoke filled trailer that was small and shaped like a rectangle. That being said, he could only listen as Sam viciously fought with her mother.

He wanted to try and go in to break it up, but every time he wanted to do so, fear would pull him back. Memories clouded his head, tainting him, choking him. It would not be the first time her mother came at him with whatever item she could get her hands on to use as a weapon, and it probably would not be the last.

_"I didn't do anything!"_ Freddie's eyes clenched tight as he recalled one of the last times he tried to get in between mother and daughter to try and settle an aggressive fight. Pamela came after him and he put up his hands in defense, not touching her at all, but she ended up calling some of her 'friends' to come over and told them that he struck her.

_ "He's a lying sack of shit," Pam lied. Kay looked to her boyfriend, Derek, who cracked his neck. "He put his hands on me!" Freddie's eyes widened and he started to shake his head, but before he could do anything, Derek threw a powerful punch into his chest, knocking him to the floor. Winded, he scrambled to his feet and ran past the bathroom where Sam was taking a shower, then ran to his truck outside the house._

_ Kay and Derek followed in their van. His heart began to pound as he struggled to breathe through his pained tears. His hand trembled as he dialed 9-1-1 on the phone and turned without thinking onto a one way street in hopes to lose the couple. When he returned, they were gone and he was still struggling to breathe. Sam was on the front lawn wrapped in a towel and talking to police officers with her mom._

Now the fight was over living expenses. "We can't all live in this tiny trailer home," Sam explained.

"You're just trying to leave me. That's all you and that white boy in the other room want to do."

"That's not true, momma!" Freddie rolled his eyes and fell back onto the bed, moaning under his breath. Why had he stayed with them? Part of it was fear, the other was guilt. Aside from being told by Pam that she could go downtown and hire a hitman at any time, he was also told if he ever left Sam because of her then he was a fucking _coward._

The room began to shake as heavy footsteps made their way to the bedroom. He sat up quickly, hoping to prepare himself for more abuse. "I hope you're fucking happy!" Pam screamed, "You stole my daughter!" This was nothing new, but her words still cut like a jagged knife. He tried so many times to get on her good side, but failed each time.

He'd tried to break up with Sam in the past, multiple times even. He even told his family, his friends, that he would be leaving her. Then Sam would begin sobbing, as she was crying now behind her mother, and swearing that he wasn't going to do this to her.

_"Give me my car keys," Freddie told Sam while standing on the other end of the Arby's counter where she was working. This was the only way he could leave her, he was sure of it. She worked here, she couldn't lose her job. This was where he thought she would be able to maturely handle a break up as she hadn't before. A part of him felt like he wasn't listening to intuition that stated clearly she would still act as childish as she had before. _

_ Sam's face twisted into sheer horror as she began to realize what this meant. Instead of being graceful, she became distraught, screaming at the top of her lungs. "No you're not leaving me! I won't let you!" Tears flew from her eyes as she rounded the corner and charged out of the doors._

_ "Sam!" He raced after her, looking back with guilt and upset as her boss shook her head. She ran to the bank across the lot and fell into the grass, immediately trying to cut her wrists with his car keys. Stricken with horror, he wrapped his arms around her, struggling to pull the keys away. "Come on!" _

_ "You're not doing this to me. You're not doing this to me. You're not doing this to me. You don't love me! You never loved me!"_

_ "That's not true!" His heart tore as anger and frustration rose up. He loved her for a year, all he did was for her. But he had to protect himself. He couldn't stay in a destructive relationship that was going to destroy him! _

_ "If you loved me, you wouldn't fucking leave me!" She pushed him back and started to walk off. He went after her, fumbling over his words. He wanted her to know that he did love her, but he couldn't be the man she needed because he couldn't take anymore abuse from either her or her mother. This wasn't right! _

_ "Sam, just let me talk you through this." As if talking ever worked before. He hated trying to talk to her or to Pam. His phone began to go off, much to his irritation, so he quickly pulled it from his pocket. It was his grandmother calling, trying to figure out what he was going to do. Before he could answer, Sam screamed and tore his phone from his hand, throwing it into a marsh-like area. "Sam! My phone, damn it!"_

_ She hesitated then looked over, gasping as she realized what occurred. "Oh your phone. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She ran to try to grab it, but it was too late. The device wasn't going to be salvaged._

_ "No come on, it's useless…I'll need to get a new one anyway."_

_ "No. No. I don't want you to leave me. If I can get your phone back you'll stay, you won't leave me?"_

_ "Just come on…I-I won't leave." She looked up at him, smiling through her tears, then walked over to hug him. His heart started to break as tears welled up into his eyes. How much longer could he do this? _

It wasn't much longer after that he did buy a new phone. Pam had a mental breakdown at some point of time and was put into the mental ward while on that same night, Sam got into a fight with the roommate they had prior to moving back into her mother's trailer home, so she got arrested. Freddie wound up picking both of them up the next morning rather than to leave at _everyone's_ whim.

_"Now's your chance, damn it!" Grandma Rose begged. "She's in prison overnight, her mother's in the mental hospital. Get in your car and drive."_

_ "Here's the thing," Gibby instructed, "You get in the truck. You turn it on. You stick the prick shift in drive, and you get the fuck out of there!"_

_ "You think you're the only one being affected by this?" Aunt Dee asked. "We're all hurting too, seeing you hurt. Just get out of there."_

_ "It wouldn't be right for me to leave them when they have no way to get home."_

Since when would that matter? Freddie looked up to Sam, and flashed a small smile as her mother stormed out of the room. "Take her to work," Pam muttered, "Then I have to go to the doctor's, so you're driving…"

His heart stopped and the entire world grew dark. He didn't want to be alone with this woman. Hell, he never wanted to be alone with her, he was terrified of what she would do to him! His chest ached and his body began to burn as he slowly rose up to his feet._ "I'm going to die if I stay here…I just know it…"_

"Give me a few minutes Freddie." Sam kissed his cheek and walked to the closet, undressing herself. "I need to get changed." He spent the last week trying to avoid being alone with Pam, whether it meant running to the nearest McDonalds to get on wifi. Each time, however, the woman would throw a shit fit and begin to chastise him for leaving her alone and deserting her.

"All right, I'll wait…" Why they ever moved to Florida, he didn't know. He hated it here. The smell, the heat, the pain and trauma of everyday life. This wasn't living. This wasn't what he fucking wanted!

His whole reason for moving away with Sam and her mother was to get away from his grandfather! His grandfather had been abusive for most of his life, a pure torture. His dad was a negligent asshole who never thought to call him and couldn't even remember a single fucking birthday, and his mother had passed away years ago. He was alone! All he had now was Sam and her mother, and they _hated_ his family.

Sometimes Pam would start talking about having 'dreams' about his grandfather shooting her, or whatever other nightmares she might have. Slowly she pushed his family away. There was a time when his father's wife called and Pam took the phone and tried to sell the "I'm an abused victim", telling the woman how both Freddie and Sam were always being mean to her and picking on her.

_"Right. Because she never came after me with a fucking knife…"_

He made his way to the laptop, trying to push down the feeling of Pam's glare on him. The woman was sitting on the couch, holding a cigarette to her lips. She had her fingers curled between her knees, was hunched over, and was puffing her lips out with narrow and angry eyes.

He loaded up his facebook, and one of the first things he saw floored him. His cousin Johnny had uploaded a profile picture. It wasn't something that would normally seem impacting, but for Freddie, this picture came with an overwhelming amount of emotion and grief.

Johnny was the one cousin who would never upload anything to facebook, much less a photo of himself. He was paranoid about privacy. His body felt weak and his tears began to dry as tremendous sorrow destroyed him. It was the realization that was getting to him, the realization that he now didn't know what was happening with his cousins.

It used to be he knew everything about them, he was always so invested in their lives, but now he didn't have a clue. Cousin Deborah was posting something about a dance recital while Sarah was uploading something in regards to college. Separation anxiety, and the desire to see his family pulled at him.

If not for Pam, he would fall to his knees and weep on the spot. _"I can't do this. I can't…I can't live this way-I have to get out. I have to find a way."_ There was no possible hope for him. They'd all given up hope on him by now, leaving him for dead. What more was there? What chance in hell did he have but to let himself rot and die at the hands of these insane women.

No. He couldn't take it. He wasn't going to put himself through this bullshit any longer!

"I'm getting out of here," he whispered.

After dropping Sam off at Arby's, he stopped by the Panera Bread and called his grandmother to let her know his plans. He would harden himself, however, and he would not tell Sam or Pam this time around. "I'm not giving them a chance to guilt me into staying this time."

"Listen Freddie, we get ready every time you say you are, but this time…The stress is getting to us."

"I'm under a lot too!"

"Well…look, if you do get out of there, call us. Grandpa will drive out to the airport. If you change your mind this time, I don't know what to say."

"I can't help that!"

"Let us know." Freddie whimpered as she hung up. He really had lost everyone close to him. He began to feel a spike of anger, blaming the two women for what was going on in his life. It wasn't fair! Even Sam's sister got away from the controlling thumb of her mother, though that wasn't to say Pam didn't try and guilt her other daughter by constantly sending her emails inquiring why the girl didn't love her anymore.

As for Sam, Freddie always doubted whether or not she really genuinely cared about him. All she cared about was making her mother happy, pleasing her mom and no matter how often they talked about moving into their own place together, Sam would always cry and throw a fit over how she just wasn't ready to leave her mom.

They were attached via an invisible umbilical cord, it seemed!

Then, if he left her, he didn't think he'd ever find someone else. He'd be alone, but was it worth it? Was being alone worth getting the hell away from all the abuse?

He had to try.

That night, he'd managed to harden himself to them. They argued with each other, even yelled at him, but this time was different. He let their abuse roll off him, as if it didn't affect him. He didn't know why, and it scared the shit out of him. It was fine, because tomorrow he would be gone. All he had to do was wait for them to sleep.

When they did finally get to sleep, Freddie kept one eye open. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Pam sitting up in her own bed, puffing on a cigarette and staring at the two like some sort of vicious snake. Occasionally he would check his phone, anticipating when Pam would lay back down and fall asleep.

His life was on the line, everything was riding on this. If he fell asleep, he knew he was fucked. If he fell asleep, his grandparents and the rest of his family would permanently give up on him, it was his literal last chance. His heart began to pound as Sam rolled over and pulled his arm over her. Exhaustion was his worst enemy, and it was beginning to defeat him the longer Pam remained upright.

_"Freddie stay awake. It has to be now. It has to be tonight otherwise I'll never get another chance! I have to get away…"_ He closed his eyes, trembling as the tears dripped along his cheeks. He fought away second thoughts and doubts, he fought away every single question of love that might keep him staying with Sam. For once, he had to think about his own health and safety.

When he opened his eyes again, he noticed it was considerably darker. His heart screamed in his chest as he grabbed his cell phone and peered down, it was now two in the morning. With a whimper he looked over, praying Pam was asleep and he could sneak out. Everything he owned was in a pair of garbage bags beneath the trailer house, he could just crawl out and toss them in the back of the truck.

Seeing the empty bed, his heart screeched to a halt. Slowly he lifted himself up and moved to the edge of the bedroom door, peering out and frowning at the television screen in the living room. Pam was sitting on the couch, facing the TV and front door. The two dogs, Reese and AJ were curled up at the foot of the couch. A lump formed in his throat as Freddie crept back to the bed, trembling anxiously and nervously.

Over the next several minutes, he kept checking and fighting the exhaustion threatening to pull him away, but Pam never went to sleep! His eyes began to grow heavy as he cursed himself, dooming himself to a life of misery.

Then an astonishing thing occurred. Reese and AJ had taken to barking up a storm. He rolled over, his eyelids rolling up as he grabbed his phone and checked the time. It was 5:00 in the morning! "Those dogs," he muttered. His eyes shot open and he sat up with a start. _"Those awesome, adorable, lovable, fucking ass dogs need to go to the bathroom at this hour?!"_ His heart began to speed up as Reese and AJ continued to bark at the front door.

"Freddie," Sam mumbled in her sleep. "Let the puppies out…" Could she hand him a better invitation?

"Okay." He tore off the covers and pulled on his clothes just as the black collie and white terrier came running into the bedroom, circling him. "Shh, relax, I'll take you out. Don't worry." He grabbed their leashes and the dogs began whining and jumping up on his legs. He could see the joy in their eyes and was almost as excited as they were. It was as though they were telling him, this was his chance.

He led them to the front door and glanced to the couch, Pam was asleep on the couch and snoring so loudly it sounded like someone was turning on a chainsaw. "Sleep tight, bitch," he whispered while opening the door. He loved these dogs now more than he'd ever loved them before, and so he would definitely do them a favor.

As he walked out with them, he stopped off on a patch of grass to let them do their business. Once they were done, and calm, he led them to where he'd stashed his bags beneath the house. Carefully he grabbed the bags and made his way to the truck where he threw them into the back.

Certain he had everything he needed, he let the dogs back into the house and closed the door while remaining on the outside. With heaviness and sorrow, he mustered the strength to get into his truck. His breath grew heavy as he turned on the car and slowly backed out, leaving the lights off so as not to risk waking Pam.

He drove slowly from the trailer, listening to the heavy beating of his heart as he gazed over his shoulder and looked back just to make sure they hadn't come out. Once in the clearing and at a gas station, he called up his grandmother, with his voice breaking as his fresh tears burned his cheeks. "Yes?" Rosa asked with a groggy tone. "What is it?"

"Grandma. I'm out…I'm out of that house…tell Grandpa I need him to get to the airport." He wouldn't be able to make this drive alone. No, he'd just left the one person he thought he'd loved. He was terrified, and soon it was going to hit him that he was leaving her for good, he knew that. While it was better for him, emotionally he wasn't going to be okay. This was the reason his grandfather was flying over, so they could drive his truck back home.

While driving to the airport, he focused on the music playing on the radio. The moonlit sky shone over the lake, creating a somewhat serene look as the songs helped him to keep his strength and spirit up. He knew it would take some time to heal, and it would, but he just had to keep focused on what lay ahead in the future.

At least he knew he would have his family, one way or the other, and he would be safe. He could be happy. Maybe now, he could try and figure out how to get his life back on track. Women scared him though, and he hated the gender-specific attitude people had towards abuse. Maybe one day people would see it wasn't just females that were abused, it was the men too.

All this didn't matter now. All that mattered was he was finally getting away from a potentially fatal experience in his life. One thing is certain about this entire experience, looking back on this night, one cannot help but to bless those goddamn lovable dogs and their poorly timed life saving bladders…

* * *

Well...that's it. It feels good to have it out there. But yes, god bless those adorable pups XD. God I love dogs, always have and always will.


End file.
